4 out of 4 stars
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Can you guess why?
I often couldn't help but wonder, why would anyone mention something as deeply philosophical as this statement, mentioned below, in a young-adult animated T.v. series:
"The true mind can wither all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can toughen the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light." (Lion Turtle, Avatar - The Last Airbender)
True to the above statement, one needs to have an unyielding mind and a heart to toughen the poison of hatred, lies, and illusions. One can achieve this state of mind through meditation and pure qualities. As Richard L. Haight grossly highlights the importance and advantages of meditation in his book, he breached this paradigm using his personal experiences.
Richard L. Haight states:
(Haight, p.1)AS I BEGIN, I MUST confess to an ulterior motive. Beyond teaching meditation, beyond all else, it is my goal to free the reader of the voice within that says, “I’m not ready for enlightenment.” Consider that every journey begins with a single step. If you take one step right now, then you are well on your way.
This read is inspiring, insightful, and moreover, a fruit-for-the-heart! Inspirience: Meditation Unbound isn't a read for everyone who doesn't have a keen interest in spirituality and wisdom. This read is a composition of 174 pages which consists of 17 chapters in total. Richard L. Haight uses a glossary to give an independent identity for a set of vocabulary he used, and an appendix, to introduce additional meditation practice methods. He is also a proud author to 3 other books: The Unbound Soul, The Psychedelic Path, and Dance of the Soul.
To me, this read is a treasure trove that deserves 4 out of 4 stars. The author provides spoon-feeding instructions for anyone who has an interest in developing their meditation process and spirituality. It was interesting to grasp and understand how he analyzed, implemented, and evaluated his experiences. The author concentrates on topics like science, religion, and spiritual involvement in meditation. I highly recommend Inspirience: Meditation Unbound to readers who are into self-discovery, and wisdom seekers.
In Part 1 of this read, The Foundations of Meditation, the author open up about the basic foundations he used, his elementary experiences, and successful approaches. In Part 2 of this read, The Basics of Unconditioned Meditation, the author subjects his reader to find comfort in meditation, he exaggerates the importance of mental discipline, the observation meditation, and the appreciation meditation. Part 3, Unbinding Conscience, the author explains the nature of conscience, the nature of defilements, types of conscience meditation methods, and self-reorganization. Part 4, Beyond the Self, the author relates the importance of understanding 'Isness', and transparent meditation.
I had strong reasons to choose this read as a traditional Buddhist practitioner. It provided an excellent brainstorming session, and I compared my meditation experiences with his. Even though his logic and reasoning are practically correct there were moments that I couldn't agree with him 100 percent, but in general, it's an accurate and a resourceful read. Certain statements in this read reminded me of my great teacher and his way of life.
The author claims that
(Haight, p.4) It's ironic that the author doesn't realize that his meditation experiences have a deep foothold on Buddhism. As a meditation practitioner, I'm very pleased by his performance, mostly for his self-accomplishments.most forms of meditation have Eastern religious practices, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, and Yogic traditions, as their source. But the meditations taught in this book doesn't come from tradition. They revealed through my own lifelong, and personal exploration in meditation, absent a formal teacher. Any similarity to any other teachings may be an indication of a shared teacher, Isness.
The language style used are straight and clear, and the language tone expresses the genuineness of his work. The author uses a pragmatic approach to boost the reader's comprehension ability. At times, he uses a conversational tone to engage the reader in his exploration. There were few typos and grammatical errors; nothing too bad that may damage the reader's reading experience. I admire the length of this philosophical read. If it's too long, it may throw the reader on the path of boredom and irritation. Some readers may find this read too philosophical, and for this reason, I wish to advise the reader to read-it-slow. This read is an asset which provides great advises, such as: keep it simple, keep it pure, to heal a poisonous heart.
******
Inspirience: Meditation Unbound
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